Bowl

Item number 1891.49.107 from the Pitt Rivers Museum.

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Description

Wooden dish for grease carved with formline animal designs. [CAK 14/08/2009]

Longer Description

Wooden dish for grease carved with formline animal designs. Carved from a single piece of alder wood, the dish is roughly rectangular in shape with a convex curvature to the rim, extending upward on either end. The rim is beveled on the sides and flat on the ends. Each end is carved with formline designs depicting a mouth near the base, a small circular nose above, two large ovoid eyes with ears above. Between the ears are two rounded eye designs with a small circular nose. The faces are similar but not identical: the mouths are depicted differently on the ends. The animals depicted on the ends wrap around the sides of the bowl. The central portion of each side is incised with short lines: there are four rows of lines on one side, and three rows of lines on the other. The inside of the bowl is smooth except for a ridge that runs approximately 10.5 mm below the rim. The wood contains significant residue of the grease once held in the bowl. [CAK 14/08/2009]

Primary Documentation

Accession book entry (for 1891.49.94 - .107): 'From Rev. Ch. Harrison, 80 Halton Rd, Canonbury Sq. N. Collection of Haida objects collected by him.... - [One of]14 Carved wooden grease boxes of various sizes. £45. [Purchase price includes 1891.49.1-110]

No additional information on catalogue cards. [JC 4 9 1996]

Written on object - BOX FOR GREASE AND BERRIES. HAIDA. C. HARRISON COLLN. PURCHASED 1891. [CAK 05/05/2009]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This bowl was viewed alongside other wood and horn vessels on Wednesday Sept 9, 2009. Delegates explained that the grease that was served in these bowls was more like oil, not hard like lard. They added that the smaller bowls from this collection would have been used for dog-fish liver oil. Natalie Fournier also added that smaller sized dishes were used for serving food rather than storing food. [CAK 27/05/2010]